I'm a highschool sophomore with a 3.9 GPA. What should I be doing to get into Stanford and Dartmouth??

Question

Thanks.

Answer 1

Get on the SAT college board website and follow their advice. My 10th grade daughter gets all this advice each month that they send to your e-mail address.
I would throw in some recreational reading just so you can improve your reading comprehension and writing skills for the SAT/ACT and for college.
You do know how to type well, correct? If not, fix that now.
Take a debate class. That way, you can argue effectively about why you are such a great candidate for their school in an interview, if you have one.
Figure out one thing you are passionate about and plunge in. This will help you just because it's fun and makes you feel connnected, and because it will help you write a great essay for your college application.

Answer 2

The usual:
Get good grades in the most challenging courses your school offers (AP, IB, etc.). Don't take every AP, but make sure you take at least a few. Get great SAT scores.

Find meaningful activities that are of genuine interest to you--schools would rather see you excel in three or four activities than have a laundry list of activities you've participated in. Take on a leadership position, stay with the same club throughout high school, but most importantly--pursue your passion for the sake of pursuing your passion. Schools can see through activities pursued strictly for a transcript. And life is not all about doing stuff to get into school.

That being said, don't put all your eggs in one or two baskets. College admissions is more competitive than ever. Don't bank on getting into two ultra-competitive schools. You will be CRUSHED if you don't get in, and that crushed feeling may follow you for years. I've seen what happens when students don't have a backup. Hope for the best, but make other plans. Work on making a list of schools you'd be happy at--ones that are reaches for anyone (like the ones you've chosen), and ones that you have a good chance of getting into. And make sure to find some schools with a very good chance of accepting you to use as safeties. There are thousands of colleges out there--there must be more than 2 you'd be happy at.

Good luck.

Answer 3

1) ask for an application form.
2) practice your SAT's
3) live a healthy lifestyle
4) do something interesting (they prefer well rounded students) like
- student government
- varsity sports
- school newspaper
- volunteering
- internship or job

I wouldn't choose those as my first choices, but to each his own. good luck.